Speaking at the 20th President Muhammadu Buhari administration scorecard series (2015-2023), he blamed the scarcity on secondary market created by those earlier allocated lands.
Bello said: “We realise that a secondary market was created. Allocations would be made and people will have papers, but rather than build on the land, a secondary market would be created.
“The idea of land is for you to build. And that is why we prefer to develop infrastructure and then, provide access than to give land.”
He stressed that land is given to private developers to build estates for rapid development of the nation’s capital.
He said one of the most difficult assignments as FCT minister was land allocation, adding that he had spent some time with his team to find lasting solution.
“But the reality is that land in Abuja is no longer going to be available and easy to get as it was 20 years ago when people were being invited to get land so that they could develop the city.
The minister continued: “There is no land in an area where you can develop and many of us have personal experiences where previous administrations allocated land in an area where 20 years down the line, you don’t even know where the land is because there is no access.”
He added that all land in phases one, two and three have been allocated even before this administration came on board, stating that new allocations would be in phases four and five.
The minister, therefore, called on the private sector to develop mass housing through direct allocation to enable people build.
